Bloomberg reports Nigeria is in talks with Russia’s Rosatom Corp to build as many as four nuclear power plants costing about $80 billion as Africa’s biggest economy seeks to add 1,200 megawatts capacity by the end of the decade.
The report claims Nigeria signed an agreement with Rosatom to cooperate on the design, construction, operation and decommissioning of a facility, said Franklin Erepamo Osaisai, chairman and chief executive officer of the Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission.
It will be increased to four nuclear plants with total capacity of 4,800 megawatts by 2035, with each facility costing a whopping $20 billion.
“A joint coordination committee is in place and negotiations are ongoing for financing and contracting…We are meticulously implementing our plans.” Osaisai said
The figure of $80billion is mind blowing for just 4,800 megawatts of electricity making us wonder if this is a mistake and if this investment is even worth it considering the risk. When you talk about nuclear power, Fukushima and Chenobly comes to mind as countries as advanced as Japan and Russia faced up to nuclear disasters. Our record for poor maintenance of facilities makes such a deal worrisome for us. Nevertheless, Nigerians just want power and if they can assure us of this safety of this proposed power plant then it could just get the right support.
Peak electricity output of Africa’s biggest economy is about 3,800 megawatts, with another 1,500 megawatts unavailable because of gas shortages. South Africa, with a third of Nigeria’s population yet eight times more installed capacity, has also signed an agreement with Rosatom as the nation looks to add 9,600 megawatts of atomic power to its strained grid.
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This is ridiculous, how can ROSATOM build 4 reactor for $80 billion . How much did Iran and Pakistan paid ROSATOM to build nuclear reactors in their countries. France have the best nuclear power technology, and Nigeria should go for the best.